New toys & a little Doodling Fun

We have written in the past about our SimpliSafe security system. It is still working well for us but we do have great WiFi in the house and good Verizon access in our area. Others haven't been as lucky.

One of our friends from Ecuador, who have also moved back to the states, posted a link to WyzeCam, a company offering stand-alone motion sensor cameras. We read about them, researched their history and since they were offering the cameras at 50% off, we ordered three. We planned on one for the front porch, one for the garage and one for the shed.

Easy to set up, great picture quality, night vision, motion sensing and so much more! We have the app on both our phones and both our iPads as well as our laptops.

Click image for original article.
[Another good review to read]

We were out and about the other day and because the porch one was still in the foyer, pointing at the dog crate (we planned to put the front porch camera inside a decorative bird house), we got to checking on the dogs.

We liked the capability so much for when we are out, we ordered a fourth one for the front porch and got it set up today. (Note: we ordered a 32GB Class 10 micro-SD card for each camera giving us additional video storage) We had fun grabbing some snapshots as we watched videos.

RELATED POSTS:

• A little more of this and that.... (see Cooper set off the SimpliSafe alarm)
• Keys...Precautions...
• What's up with us? (part two)

Now for a few fun pics of the #2doods! We had a couple inches of snow (and bitter cold) last week. They loved it, no matter how cold it was outside. Both ended up with snow faces and enjoyed licking them off each other. LOL!

Do we HAVE to come in?

Frozen ball they brought inside!

Relaxed at play

Yes, Cooper still assumes his inkblot/pretzel mode!

Have I grown much? L: 4 months R: 9 months

One parting thought....I read today that Golden Retrievers continue to grow until 14-18 months and Standard Poodles up to 2 years! Yikes!!

Ciao for now!

A little more of this and that....

January rolled in with a lot of COLD temperatures, we even put a space heater in the RV to keep the washing machine from freezing (heat strip in A/C unit was running 24/7). The house is staying good but we did have to turn on the auxiliary heating since we have a heat pump. It was finally warmer today but we have freezing rain forecast for tonight. The good news is temps in the upper 40's-low 50's this week. Yay!

Murphy is still growing by leaps and bounds, weighing almost as much as Cooper and getting almost as tall. Turning six months old meant.....NEUTER TIME. He did just fine but wasn't a fan of the inflatable collar of shame.

It lasted less than 24 hours before his accomplice, Cooper, chewed off the velcro fastener. Fortunately, Murphy left things pretty much alone same as Cooper had several months ago. Cooper was on a roll, though, we crated him when we took Cooper to the vet and then later, picked him up. We stopped at Subway for sandwiches and while I was inside (Stu was outside in the car, keeping it warm for sleepy Murphy) Stu got a phone call from SimpliSafe, our security alarm folks. Seems like our motion sensor went off....oh, and if you have your volume on, you can hear the beeping (that was the alarm) and Cooper banging the bells hanging on the back door, asking out. LOL!

Yup, in my haste, I forgot to clip the bolt snap hook on so he couldn't manipulate the slide locks on the crate. When we got home, he was out and waiting for us. The top slide lock on the crate was still closed, the bottom one was unlatched and the bottom edge of the crate was bent inward. I still can't believe he slipped through that narrow space! Needless to say...we now remember to clip the bolt snap on every time we crate them (or one of them).

With the cold weather, Stu has been trapped indoors a lot, too cold to work in the garage or shed. So the pups have enjoyed getting some extra loving....whether being petted or brushed. Here are a couple of examples.

Of course the #2doods don't mind the cold temps, we have to watch how long they are outside and call them back in. They play and play and play...then they sleep, sleep and sleep. Oh, and you can also see the new pillows that I got in an after Christmas sale to add a little more color to the living room. It looked so drab when the few decorations (including holiday pillows) were put away.

By the way, Cooper still has bear paws! Compare the size of his paw with his nose!!

I won't be blogging much for the next month. We are cruising later this month, doing a two week back-to-back and we are driving both directions, to and from Tampa. AND, I have to have Paradise Drift written, edited and off to typo hunters and beta readers before then. Eeek!

Oh, and just an FYI. My short story, Lost and Found, will be free on Jan 12-15. It's the prequel to my only romance novel, Home Again, which will be discount priced at $1.99 on the same dates. If you haven't read them, hope you will give them a try. If you have, I hope you will tell your friends!

Ciao for now!

Keys...Precautions...

We have keys....LOTS of keys. Keys to three vehicles. Keys to the RV entry doors. Keys to the RV outside storage bays. Keys to the toolbox on the pickup. Keys to the shed on our property. Keys to the shed on our house. Keys to the deadbolts on the house. Keys to the storm door on the house. Keys to doorknob on the door between the utility room and garage. Keys to Stu's Craftsmen toolboxes. Keys to....well, you get the idea.

This means multiple key rings. I have one set up for the RV, when in Florida or traveling and I have one for the house. Both have keys to the pickup, the only vehicle I drive. Stu has one set for everything but the motorcycle and one for the motorcycle.

Last week he was out riding with our friend, Earl, and they wanted to stop at the house. Stu realized he had the garage door opener but no house key. I had left to do some shopping and was 30 miles away.

So we bought a couple of things to aid our failing memories (and yes, he did add a house key to his motorcycle key ring) and also help if we need to ask someone to access the house when we are away.

First was adding a Universal Garage Door Wireless Opener from LiftMaster. My late husband and I had one and I loved it. (And if I close the garage door while Stu is working in the shed and the side door is locked, oh, and his keys are in the house - VOILA! He can enter). You can read more on the Liftmaster site.

LiftMaster Universal 387LM Keyless Entry

Next was adding a combination Key Safe or LockBox inside the garage. We did this for two reasons. We never lock the doorknob lock on the door between the garage and utility room. Since we already carry too many keys, that is one we don't bother with. But what if someone accidentally locked it?

The key safe is mounted inside the garage and we have stored a copy of the deadbolt key as well as the doorknob key. This way we will never be locked out. Plus, if we need someone to access the house and they don't have keys to it, we can get them inside without having to mail them keys.

Kidde KeySafe Push Button Combination Key Lock Box, 2-Key

Of course we now have number combinations to remember for our house security system, the house safe, the RV safe, the garage door opener and the key safe. LOL! Needless to say, these are written down and accessible via our smart phones thanks to DropBox and a shared folder between us.

Phew! I think we have all contingencies covered...well, for the most part. I'm sure something will come back to bite us in the butt. LOL!

Ciao for now!

Back Home [sub2]

After getting our  new HVAC unit installed, we quickly prepared the house for our absence. We love our new SimpliSafe Wireless security system with camera and wireless thermostat from Carrier.

Using our phone apps we can view the camera....

See the current setting of our alarm system, as well as arm/disarm the system. Plus we can see the current temperature in the under sink kitchen cabinet where we have a freeze protection sensor...

Check and adjust the thermostat settings....

With the trailer loaded with a few things, we headed off, stopping at the transfer station to leave our trash. As we pulled out, I remembered that I had forgotten the briefcase in the office with our closing documents.....AND all our interim mail with a bunch of tax statements.....AND our checkbook. Good thing we were less than three miles away.

That remedied, we headed south. At our first stop for lunch, Stu realized he had left his keys to the RV as well as my backup set of keys for the cargo trailer, back in the house. Oh well, we had extras and I still had my set to get us in. Midday I realized that I had left some cooked chicken in the refrigerator. I thought I had done so well! I had pulled out everything else but I just couldn't remember seeing the chicken, but I knew it was there. Too late to return, we'd have to mail a key to a friend and ask them to go toss it. Ahhh, memory - it's a wonderful thing, until you lose it.

We finally made it back to Florida around one-ish on Thursday and imagine our joy when everything was fine, inside and out, the rig. Phew! And, thanks to the candles I got at Tractor Supply (vanilla), it smelled good inside as well.

We dropped the trailer, unloaded our suitcases and headed out for some lunch before picking up Stu's trike that we had left at Stormy Hill HD for service. It went in for the 10k service and a couple of warranty items. It was a good thing we planned to be gone three weeks (even though it ended up at five weeks) because they ended up with a major warranty item. All is good now and Stu is happy to be out and riding in the gorgeous 70 degree temperatures.

Me? Well, the last day of travel found me in pain behind my right shoulder blade. Not a single spot, but a long vertical line of pain. No matter how I moved, I winced. While Stu went to his retiree (firefighters) reunion, I stayed at home₂ due to still not feeling well. Two days later,  he had a blast (no photos) and I am finally feeling better.

Oh, I think I forgot to share these photos earlier - our living room with the new picture, our office and a rainy day.











Ciao for now!

What's up with us? (part two)

We left you post our Disney adventure and busy packing for our trip to Tennessee....

We had an uneventful drive and stopped to see our friends who moved from MD to Philadelphia, TN to pick up a dining table and benches that they no longer wanted. Stu had put dibs on it back in MD when he was helping them load their truck for the move. The table now resides in our dining room. The short bench is in our utility/mud/laundry room. Perfect for sitting to put on/take off shoes and boots. The long section of bench is against one wall in the dining area. The bonus? Both seats lift for storage!

We planned on staying one night but the weather changed our minds for us. Snow, ice and below freezing temps delayed our departure until we felt it was safe to continue. We arrived at our timeshare condo in Crossville a day late. It was perfect! Half the price of a hotel, lots of room, free wifi, good television and a well equipped kitchen. It was reasonable because it's off season here. Worked out well for us.

We did our final walk through on Monday the 9th and closed on Tuesday the 10th. It was official - we were now proud but poor homeowners.

We have been swamped with buying things - lots of used furniture locally and even more items from Amazon. We got a duplicate of the floor firesafe we have in the RV, delivered free from Walmart. Our new office chairs were delivered free from Sam's Club. Yes, the mailman, UPS and Fedex drivers now know us well.

We found a small moving company that helped Stu unload all the stuff in our shed on our property. We then hired them to help pickup the last load of furniture and were glad we did. That stuff was HEAVY! Stu also got a great deal on a used lawn tractor and cutting torch from the folks with what became our guest bedroom. We have someone who picked up most of our trash and we will contract with him for regular service later. We met our new insurance agents at Farm Bureau, nice folks! We got our address changed and new driver licenses and as well as changed on the trike registration.

Many, many trips to Lowe's, starting with buying our new Maytag washer and dryer. After using them the last couple of weeks, I am very happy with what I chose.

We have donated three HUGE totes of clothes that will go to the folks who suffered in the recent Gatlinburg fires. Another box of books went to the local library. Some things left behind by the seller were taken to the dump (transfer station) along with a ton of cardboard to recycle.

We still haven't unpacked our safe and set it up, most of what will go in it will come out of the safe in the RV. I have several totes full of things to hang on the walls and sit on shelves, that will wait till spring.

We shared photos of the house before purchase in this blog post. Here are a few since we've moved in.

We have FIVE seats that recline in our living room! Not a fan of the TV stand but love our new 50" television.


Front foyer, cabinet needs contents but we have our marriage skeleton gnomes and my stained glass frog nightlight.


I LOVE my kitchen and all the pops of red!


Dining area works well...the walls are bare and we still need something on the other side, opposite the bench.


Master bedroom - need something on the walls for sure!




Mater bath -


Guest room, ready for company!


Guest bath is ready, too.


You first saw my desk here...


Now here is the office two weeks later. Yes, the elliptical is in the office. That encourages me to get up and MOVE more often.


We bought and installed a security system from SimpliSafe and are quite pleased with it. Inexpensive, easy to set up, good customer service (long phone waits due to how well these systems are selling) and portable if you move. We have all the doors and windows alarmed, several motion sensors, several glass breakage sensors, a web camera and just ordered carbon monoxide, smoke and freeze detectors.

If anyone is interested, PLEASE contact us and we will get them to contact you via email.

Oh, and we had our first snowfall today...well, this morning. All gone now!


We will probably be here another 4-5 days, finishing up all the loose ends. I hope to get some writing done on Almost a Touch while Stu works on "things". [giggle]

Ciao for now!